


time and again

by kopycat_101



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Bisexual Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Character Death, Character Study, Childhood Friends, Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gay Marc Anciel, Gen, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Missing Scene, Nathaniel and Alix are Childhood Best Friends, Not A Fix-It, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Teen Crush, Teenagers, Time Travel, Wingman Alix Kubdel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kopycat_101/pseuds/kopycat_101
Summary: Bunnix has long stopped crying over the annihilation of timelines. Seeing dozens—if not hundreds—collapse in her lifetime.That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, though. It still hurts seeing her friends die. It burns in her throat and cuts into her heart like a knife.It’s what makes her human, still feeling this pain, even if she’s well-versed in fighting back the tears.(Chat Blanc and its aftermath from Bunnix's perspective. Featuring Marcnath, friendship, and angst.)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel & Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Alix Kubdel, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 59





	time and again

* * *

Nathaniel and Marc decided to work on their comic at the redhead’s apartment today. No other reason than the day was nice, it was Friday, and they wanted a change of scenery from their usual haunting grounds of the Art Club at Dupont.

The sky was such a clear, bright blue. Nathaniel could see it from the windows, having opened the blinds to let in the natural sunlight as they worked in the living room.

It was a beautiful day. A beautiful day to be spending with his beautiful boyfriend.

And then the light got brighter.

Nathaniel frowns as in the distance of the Parisian skyline, the sky brightened. It’s as if someone had turned on a floodlight.

The brightening of the sky also caught his boyfriend’s attention, the harsh change in lighting reflecting off the other’s fingerless leather gloves. The two stare out the window. It wasn’t just the sky brightening. There was…a large ball of white light that was growing.

“A-An Akuma…?” Marc asks in a tremulous whisper.

Nathaniel quickly scrambles over to his boyfriend’s side, half-tripping over his feet as he goes to crouch next to the writer.

He fumbles, grabbing onto one of Marc’s hands, hand shaky and sweaty. Marc automatically turns his hand over, threading their fingers together and squeezing. “Maybe we can hide away from the windows—”

The sky brightens further. The ball of light gets bigger, expands.

Nathaniel has just enough time to throw himself on top of Marc in a crushing hug, trying to shield the other’s body, as a terrifyingly loud crack echoes across Paris and the shockwaves hit like an atomic bomb going off.

_It’s the end of the world…wasn’t it?_

That’s what Nathaniel thinks, as he stares back into Marc’s gorgeous emerald eyes, blown wide with fear.

“I love—”

* * *

Bunnix has long stopped crying over the annihilation of timelines. Seeing dozens—if not hundreds—collapse in her lifetime.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, though. It still hurts seeing her friends die. It burns in her throat and cuts into her heart like a knife.

It’s what makes her human, still feeling this pain, even if she’s well-versed in fighting back the tears.

She carves one more tally mark into the wall of her Burrow. One more timeline she couldn’t save. One more time she couldn’t save her friends. Save the boy that was her brother in all but blood.

“There’s work to be done, Bunnix…” she mutters under her breath as a reminder, despite how fatigued she felt.

She wanted to open a Burrow and hop right into a kinder reality. One where she could watch herself be the best man at her best friend’s wedding, watch the beaming and euphoric faces of Nathaniel and Marc when they two are wed in their synagogue. The same place Alix and Nathaniel’s families met, the same place that started her friendship and kinship with Nathaniel.

But, no. She had work to do.

It’s a large responsibility, the one she has. A burden that very few can understand. She holds the fate of a hundred timelines and realities in her hands, possibly even thousands.

And she knows which one she needs to fix first. She needs to do her best to preserve the Main Timeline as much as possible. Chat Blanc needs to be dealt with. And she’s going to need baby Ladybug’s help with that.

* * *

“You’re kinda hopeless, you know,” Alix sighs, fond exasperation heavy in her voice, as she gathers with the rest of the girls.

“Guess I’ll just do it next time,” Marinette says awkwardly, looking surprisingly tired and downtrodden. Then again, the girl’s failed over five-hundred times in asking out her crush.

Marinette…she was a sweet girl, but she was a little… _obsessive_ when it came to Adrien. Alix is just plain tired of the shenanigans, after so many repeats. She’s already had to deal with another pair of pining idiots.

Though surprisingly enough, Nathaniel and Marc managed to get together just fine without anyone needing to intervene. Sure, it took Alix almost kicking Nathaniel in the ass to get him to realize his feelings… But they managed to figure it out.

At least, figure it out much quicker than Marinette did with either Adrien _or_ Luka.

If Alix wasn’t friends with Marinette, she wouldn’t want to get involved at _all_ with this complicated love square Marinette’s found herself tangled in.

But she wants to try to be supportive of her friends. So she’s still here, trying to do that. After this newest failure, though, she’s considering just…taking a break from Marinette’s love life.

* * *

Bunnix sighs in relief as she watches the Main Timeline stabilize.

She watches mini-her go to Nathaniel’s apartment, knocking to be let in, essentially inserting herself as the third wheel and chaperone between the two lovebirds.

“If I’m not here, you two would just stare at each other the entire time and not get anything done,” mini-her drawls, smirking as the two boys both go beet-red and sputter.

Bunnix finds herself smiling softly at the scene.

It was a big responsibility, keeping the timelines safe. But…it was worth it, for every timeline she’s able to save. For all the times she could save her friends.

After all, there were more timelines that existed where she’s the best man to Nathaniel and Marc’s wedding than there are timelines that end in their deaths.

And that’s enough for her.

* * *


End file.
